The Shrine Bowl bolted for Tampa. The city already lost a 2011 Notre Dame non-conference game. They city couldn’t even compete to bring Florida State to Orlando for a 2012 game thanks to the eyesore that is the Citrus Bowl.

Simply put, without renovations making the city officials’ books as a priority, Orlando stands to lose millions for its downtown economy.

Florida Citrus Sports Executive Director Steve Hogan said the emphasized the need for a start date on Citrus Bowl renovations in lieu of bowl game negotiations for the Capital One Bowl and Champs Bowl in a year and a half.

“I feel secure about the next five years,” Steve Hogan said when asked about the Florida Classic’s future with the Citrus Bowl. “I don’t know that we can be open with a new renovation in the next five years. I certainly know that we negotiate our bowl game agreements in a year and a half and I think somewhere in this time frame, Orlando has to have a set start date and a known end date [for renovations]. That’s what’s most important. ”

Without renovations to the Citrus Bowl, the Florida Classic is a candidate to flee the market as well. Tampa previously hosted the event from 1978-1994.

Last year, the Florida Classic brought in an estimated economic impact of $31 million to Central Florida businesses according to reps for the Citrus Bowl.

The burning question here is do city officials see Citrus Bowl renovations as a priority?

Interesting to note which city politicians were and were not in attendance of the Florida Classic press conference. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer (and his still unshaven beard) , Orlando commissioner Daisy Lynum, Orange County Commissioner Tiffany Moore-Russell were all there. Orange County mayor Teresa Jacobs was absent, due to a busy schedule I’m sure.

Showing his support for the Orlando Magic’s pending playoff run, Dyer showed off salt and pepper stubble during a press conference Thursday afternoon for the Amway Center’s Leed Gold Certification, proving its environmental “greeness.”

Buddy Dyer, who stopped shaving last Saturday, told the Sentinel it was the first time in 30 years he’d grown a beard, much to his wife’s disliking. Orlando Magic President Alex Martins presented a clean-shaven face at the press conference, but is expected to join the beard rally in a few weeks according to the team’s media relations department.

“My wife is not in favor of it, my kids think ‘it’s pretty cool dad,’” said Dyer, who has temporarily changed the city’s nickname from the city beautiful to the city beard-is-full during the playoffs.

“The Magic players are growing beards and one of your sports writers [Mike Bianchi] challenged the rest of the community to do so to support them so I’m taking up that challenge today and I have declared the playoff run for the Magic to be Orlando beautiful will be called the Orlando ‘beard is full’. So go Magic.”